


The Steps You Take Don’t Need To Be Big; They Just Need To Take You In The Right Direction

by Lilsciencequeen



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Family Feels, Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-06 05:29:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14049933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilsciencequeen/pseuds/Lilsciencequeen
Summary: In which Deke finds out who his grandparents are, and the infamous line is explored through the generations.





	The Steps You Take Don’t Need To Be Big; They Just Need To Take You In The Right Direction

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little something that's been in my head and I couldn't get rid of. 
> 
> A massive thanks to stjarna for answering all my kid related questions. What would I do without you!

She massaged his shoulders, feeling the knots and tension that resided there, as he let out a long low groan, his head burying itself in his hands. “Nothing’s working Jemma, how are we supposed to do this? Change the future? We can’t even build the machine. We’re not even getting anywhere.”

“But we’re making progress, aren’t we? We have some of the components, we’re making plans. Robin said we’re getting closer, so we must be getting somewhere. We have to. And it’s like my dad used to say to me; ‘The steps you take don’t need to be big; they just need to take you in the right direction’.”

“I just don’t know…” he paused, letting out puff of breath. “I don’t know what the right direction is, how to even take that step. Robin says we’re close, but how do we know that it’s now? That we’re close now and she’s not just having some vision of the future?”

“We don’t, she told him, shaking her head. “We don’t have to know, but we have to try Fitz, please. We have to try.” A sigh escaped her, her fingers continued working at his shoulder muscles, feeling the tension that was there, the tension that had been there for so long now it seemed to have nestled into his shoulders and made its home there. “I just… I don’t want our daughter growing up in a future like this, a future with no future.”

Fitz turned, spinning to face his wide at the words, meeting her eyes, the things heavy with everything that was going on. “And she’s not going to Jemma, she’s not going to. Jemma.” He reached forward, and took her hands in his own, giving them a reassuring squeeze before playing with her wedding ring. Her gaze dropped down to it, and then she turned her attention back to him. “Jemma, I know I don’t… I know I’m complaining a lot, that I don’t think I can do it, but I know that I have to do this, that we have to do it...”

Jemma nodded, finishing his sentence. “For her.” They both looked across the room to where their daughter was sitting, in her high chair, playing with a selection of toys, and a careless swing of one arm caused one of them to fall down, the thing landing on the floor with a dull thud. It took Peggy a second to realise what had happened, and once she realised, her face scrunched up, and the first tears escaping her.

It was only a second before Jemma was by her side, lifting her toy up, a stuffed monkey, and handing it to her. But still her daughter continued to cry, and Jemma lifted her out of her chair, and into her arms, rocking the young girl back and forth to soothe her. “Hey,” she whispered, pressing a kiss to her daughter’s head. “Hey it’s alright, it’s alright, you don’t need to cry.”

She continued to rock the two of them back and forth for several moments, until the girl thankfully stopped crying, and instead began sucking on her fist. “That’s a good girl,” Jemma cooed, placing another kiss on her daughter’s head. “You’re so clever.”

Fitz pushed himself of the work bench, unable to watch this from the distance any longer. He had to be there, with his family.

“Who’s that coming over?” she cooed, pointing with one hand at Fitz, who’s face bore a smile that was just as big as hers. “Who’s that over there? Is it daddy?”

“Dada!” Peggy tried to copy her mum, not able to completely copy the words that had been said, but still, nevertheless, Fitz froze where he was and Jemma quietened.

“Did she?” he asked, looking from his daughter to his wife, the former waving her monkey in the air and wanting her father, and the latter looking confused and shell-shocked.

“I think she did,” Jemma eventually breathed, staring at her daughter who seemed nonplussed by everything that had just happened. “Her first word.”

“And it was for me,” Fitz teased, unable to help himself as he accepted his daughter, who’s arms were now outstretched for him. He accepted her, kissing the top of her head, soft brown curls already making themselves known.

Jemma rolled her eyes. She and Fitz had been having a debate the past number of weeks, wondering what Peggy’s first word would be, and now it seemed her husband had won the bet that they had made, and she knew that he would soon be asking her if he could claim his reward soon. “Well,” Jemma spoke, reaching over and cupping her daughter’s face, a tender motherly gesture. “You are a daddy’s girl, aren’t you?”

“Dada!” Peggy repeated, seemingly impressed with herself that she now knew at least one word that her parents could understand.

Jemma smiled at her again, beaming. Despite everything that was happening in the world, the direction the future seemed to be heading, having this here, her family, it was still the one thing that she loved the most, the thing that made her happiest. The thing that she was fighting for.

“Come on,” she whispered up to her husband, pressing a kiss to his jaw. “Let’s take a break and go get dinner.”

***

“Ugh!” The groan of frustration came from her daughter, the young girl now rapidly approaching her sixth birthday, and Jemma turned, looking down at her.

“What’s wrong sweetie?” Her voice was soft and gentle, and Peggy looked up at her, frowning as she did so.

“Can’t do this.”

Jemma looked at what it was that her daughter was trying to do; fit together the pieces of the puzzle that Fitz had made her. Life in the Lighthouse once the world had been destroyed meant that there wasn’t much that they could get their daughter, and everything that she had had been made by one of her parents or had come from a time before the Earth had been destroyed.

Jemma looked at the lab tech who she was helping, who simply nodded that they could do this, and Jemma returned her attention back to her daughter, sitting on the floor and joined her. “Yes, you can,” she continued speaking, reaching for the piles of pieces and spreading them out so they could all be seen, whilst also catching Peggy shaking her head out of the corner of her eyes, soft brown curls bouncing around her head. “You just need to take your time, and you don’t have to rush. The steps you take don’t need to be big; they just need to take you in the right direction.”

Peggy seemed even more confused by these words, and turned back to her puzzle, attempting to attach one piece to what she had already made, despite the fact that it clearly didn’t go together and as she started to get frustrated. She let go of them, and crossed her arms, pouting and Jemma reached over, brushing at her curls before, sliding the piece away and placing the back in the with the others. She watched as Peggy fought back tears, the young girl trying so hard not to get upset over this. “Hey, now there’s no need to get upset. It’s okay if you can’t do something. It's natural, there's even things mummy and daddy can't do. It's only a puzzle.”

“It doesn’t make sense!”

“What doesn’t?”

“This puzzle. What you said. About the... big steps”

“The steps you take don’t need to be big; they just need to take you in the right direction?”

Peggy nodded. “I know you tell daddy that when he gets upset. When he can't do nothing.”

“I do,” Jemma confirmed, reaching over and wiping away one tear that had already fallen, the thing making a track down her cheek. “And I’m gonna say the same to you, this puzzle, sweetie, it’s nothing to get upset over. It’s just some wood at the end of the day. And if you want to do it, we can work through it together, piece by piece. Until we work it all out.”

“I want to do it. With you.”

“Okay, let’s do it,” and Jemma reached for two of the pieces that she could see would go together, sliding them together so they clipped into place, and Peggy copied her, taking her time as she worked out what two pieces went together, then the third one that went with the first two, then the forth and so on, and together, they managed to get the remaining pieces together, and then they began putting the rest of the puzzle together.

“See,” Jemma said, sliding the final pieces together, the monkeys and other animals of the jungle in all their bright and wonderful colours grinning up at them. “Sometimes the steps can be small, and you still get there in the end.

And Peggy looked down at the finished puzzle before looking up and returning her mother’s smile.

***

“The steps you take don’t need to be big; they just need to take you in the right direction.”

Fitz turned around when he heard the words from his daughter, the words that he had heard so many times from his wife. She was leaning against the doorway, a grin on her face, brown curls falling in a mess around her face but her blue eyes twinkling with mischief and he could only wonder what she and Hunter had done now.

“Pegs,” he whispered, before looking at the time, cursing as he noticed that it was after two in the morning now. He had been so lost in his work that he had forgotten about everything else. He had been making progress, he had been getting somewhere, things falling into place quicker than they had been for the past five years. “I’m sorry… I lost track of time…”

“No, Dad,” Peggy tried to explain, shaking her head and pushing herself of the doorway, and coming into his office. She was nearly his height now, and he often joked that she would be towering over him soon, not that she agreed. She hadn't grown in over a year and a half now. “You don’t have to apologise.”

“I do,” he tried to explain, knowing that his daughter wouldn't care, that his daughter would say he didn't need to apologise. She had a heart as big as her mother's. “It’s your birthday.”

“You know I don’t care, that all I want is…” She sighed, knowing that she shouldn’t say anything to her father. He was always a fan of doing something for her birthday, making sure that they celebrated it despite how much was going on, despite how much work there was to do. She had long ago given up arguing her case, giving in and celebrating, knowing that it made him happy.

“You should,” Fitz told her. “You should have a day to celebrate, to enjoy yourself and not worry about everything that's going on.”

“It’s not important, this is… the time machine…” She trailed off, not really knowing where she was going with her point. But she knew that she was talking sense, and she just hoped her father could understand just what she was saying.

“Your mum wouldn’t want you doing this.”

“Dad…” she began to object but the mention of her mum was still something that was still to fresh, despite the fact that it had been years now. It was a pain the never went away. And every time it was brought up, especially on days like this, it got too much for her. “I just...”

“I miss her too,” Fitz whispered, opening his arms and allowing Peggy to collapse into them, sobs shaking her body and tears soaking into his shirt. “I miss her too, and I’ll never forget that, you know that? I’ll never let go of her, no really but I just… I’m going to get you this time machine working, one way or another, I promise you that, okay… I promise you I’ll fix this.”

He pulled away, and looked at his daughter, holding her shoulders as she wiped away her tears with her hand, sniffing. “I have something that I want to give you. For your birthday.”

Peggy watched as he made his way across the room, to his bedside table (her gaze lingered on the wedding photo of her parents that resided on their bedside table, looking at how happy they had looked, and noticing just how _young_ her father looked in it). He pulled open a drawer and rummaged around inside before lifting something out of it.

When he passed it to her, letting it drop into her hand, he saw what it was, a ring on a small, simple, silver chain. She stared at it, at the light catching on the jewel in it, causing rainbows to begin dancing. “It was your mum’s,” he told her, watching as she spun it in her hand. “It was her wedding ring. She wanted… she always wanted you to have it, but not until… she told me to give it to you when I was ready. And I’m sorry, I know it’s not much…”

“It’s beautiful,” Peggy whispered, reaching for behind her neck and clipping it on and letting the ring fall against her. She had always loved her mum's wedding ring, it was simple, but yet perfect. She had never known that her her father had had it, had been keeping it for her through all these years. But she wasn't angry, she knew that he was still grieving and that grief impacted everyone differently. 

“I’m sorry, I never gave it to you sooner.”

“No, it’s okay.” She sighed. Talking about her mum, it still hurt after all this time. She did get to know her mum, something that she was forever thankful for, not as well as she could have hoped, but she had got to know her, unlike so many others in the Lighthouse. She was one of the lucky ones. “I just wish I had gotten to know her better.”

“She loved you, and having to lose you, it was one of the hardest things for her.” Peggy watched as the sadness flashed in his eyes, watched as her father relived his wife's death over again.

A sad smile crossed her face, and she shook her head. “But she wouldn’t want this from us, would she? Us being sad on my birthday, mourning her?”

Fitz paused for a moment, before shaking his head. “She wouldn’t. How about we go to bed, celebrate your birthday in the morning, I might be able to steal some food from Hunter.”

Peggy froze not wanting to move, unable to say anything. But thankfully, her father caught on. He always did. It was in his nature. “Nightmares again?”

“Yeah.” She was also thankful that her father didn’t ask for more, he never pushed her if she didn’t want to, allowing her to open up in her own time.

“How about we work on this time machine then?”

Her lips flickered up at this, nervously. Despite what it was that they were working towards, it was a project that she enjoyed working on with her father, just the two of them against everything else. “Small steps towards saving all of time and space?” Her eyebrow shot up, something that mirrored her mother’s so much.

He nodded, his lips curving up too. “Small steps to save all of time and space.”

***

“Remember what I told you?” she told her son, who’s head was bowed as if he were being disciplined, something that was happening she supposed.

He nodded. “’The steps you take don’t need to be big; they just need to take you in the right direction’.”

She smiled. “Yes that. I know sometimes me and your dad argue, and I’m sorry that you had to hear what just happened. We didn’t mean for you to hear that, but running off like that, helping them like that and passing on what we said, that information wasn’t supposed to get out Deke, at least not yet.”

“I’m sorry,” he muttered, kicking the ground. “I just wanted to help.”

“I know you do, and as much as I love you, I can’t lose you. I’ve nearly lost your father, and I can’t lose you. Not like I’ve lost everyone else, okay?”

He nodded, unable to speak, and then he felt her hand on his chin, lifting it up so that he could meet her eyes. “Deke, please, promise me you won’t do anything like that again, you know how dangerous they are, and we can’t rush this, not when we’re this close. We have a plan, and we just… I can’t lose you.”

“I know.” But he didn’t know, not really. He had known people who had died in the Lighthouse, everyone had. But he had never lost anyone, not really.

“But I promise you, this life, it isn’t the one that you deserve, and I’m going to make it better, I promise you that. I’m going to give you the life you deserve.”

And in response, he just nodded.

***

_The steps you take don’t need to be big; they just need to take you in the right direction._

The words, they hung in the air before him as lay there, in his bed, throwing a ball up and down, catching it most of the time.

He still couldn’t get his head around it, the fact that the couple, the two scientists who had just gotten married the other day, they were his grandparents.

Then he realised, he had to tell them.

He couldn’t let this rest, couldn’t keep this to himself, so after the ball fell on his stomach, he rolled out of bed and made his way back to the common area where they had been earlier that evening, one of the places where he knew they could be.

He didn’t even once stop to consider what the consequences of telling them could be, because honestly, it couldn’t be much worse than what was currently happening (not that he was even sure what was happening).

After a number of moments, he turned the corner and entered the room, freezing just inside the door way when he saw what was happening in the room. It wasn't what he was expecting, the team weren't there, no one was except one of the older women, May, who was tucking a large grey wool blanket around a lump on the sofa.

Then he realised what that lump was.

_Who_ that lump was.

FitzSimmons.

The two of them were curled up on the sofa together, Jemma’s head resting on his chest, his arm obviously wrapped around her and holding her close. They looked so peaceful, resting here, and it almost felt wrong that he was standing here, watching this.

“Are they?” he asked, not even able to finish his question before May looked up at him, fixing him with a look that he didn’t quite understand.

“Asleep, yes they are.”

“How are they comfortable?”

May cast another quick look at them, her face softening upon seeing the two of them curled them, wrapped around each other, the two of them becoming one entity almost. She couldn’t help but think about how much these two deserved this, after all they had suffered. Because they had suffered so much, and too much, and now they were here, happy and together and that was all that mattered. Sure, they shouldn’t have the weight of the world on their shoulders, quite literally, but they had each other, and May knew that to them, that was all that mattered.

“They’ve been through worse.” A pause, a beat and then. “Is there something that you wanted?”

_The steps you take don’t need to be big; they just need to take you in the right direction_.

The words flitted through his mind once again, but he shook them out. “No, nothing I just… It’s nothing.”

And after casting one more glance at them, he turned, deciding to leave the two of them in peace, knowing that this conversation could take place the next day.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for taking the time to read, I really hope you enjoyed and feel free to let me know what you think!


End file.
